Demons Go Boo In The Night -A YYH Halloween Special-
by Foxxy
Summary: Kuwabara's cousin comes to visit for Halloween, she gets to meet his friends and gets to hang out for a bit. Then Halloween arrives and they all go out intending to go to an event, only something goes wrong. Secrets are uncovered and Namine begins to wonder what is really going on and must decide on how she'll continue forward.
1. Chapter 1

***Note* Hello everyone! So as a way for me to kind of thank my readers for following my story for this long, I figured I'd write a Halloween special for them. Please note that this story has no correlation with my Going to the Place Where I Belong story, well except for the yu yu hakusho part :) Now this was originally supposed to be a 'short' but then it just kept getting longer and longer and now is like a mini novella at 31 and a half pages lol. Well I hope you like it, and if people would like me to continue with this storyline let me know and I may continue writing it after I'm finished with Going. Also sorry for all of the dots but fanifiction won't let me have the kind of space between paragraphs like I wanted. Enjoy and I know it's late but Happy Halloween!***

Kuwabara had answered the phone when it had rung and spoke with the one on the other end, a decent amount of time had gone by before he hung up, and an excited smile played on his lips before he ran through his home. He couldn't wait to share the news with the rest of his family, it was too bad that both of his parents were out at the moment, but at least he knew Shiziru was going to be the happiest to hear it since she was home. All through the house he ran calling out his sister's name, over and over he called and each time he didn't get an answer; finally he had had enough and went straight for her room, much like he should have done in the first place. When he reached her door he raised his hand to knock only to have the door swing open to reveal a very unhappy looking Shiziru; she must have just woken up out of a deep sleep. Kuwabara gulped nervously as he slightly backed away from his sister, one that looked very ready and willing to clobber him into a pulp.

"Heh heh… hey sis… it's a good thing I just caught you waking up," nervously he scratched at his head.

Shiziru narrowed her eyes at her brother, "Baby bro, you better have a very good reason to be running around the house yelling like an idiot and waking me up."

She cracked her knuckles.

"Hey I'm not an idiot!" his eye twitched at the insult.

Shiziru took a step closer to her brother, "Do you have any idea how late I was up last night!?"

"It's good news! I swear!" he didn't like the look his sister had.

"You better spit it out quickly baby bro, before the only thing spitting out of your mouth is your teeth."

"I just got a call from Namine," like his sister suggested, Kuwabara spat it out as quickly as he could.

Hearing Namine`s name seemed to quell her anger.

"Namine?"

Kuwabara nodded his head enthusiastically, "Ya."

"What did she call about?"

A big grin came to his face, "She's coming for a visit!"

Shiziru seemed to perk up, "When?"

"She says she's leaving later tonight and won't be landing until sometime tomorrow."

"That's a long flight."

Shiziru ran a hand through her hair before rummaging through her pant pockets and produced a lighter; the one Sakyo had given her, and a package of cigarettes. With a cigarette clamped between her lips she flicked her lighter and brought the flame to the tip of her smoke and set alight the end. Kuwabara didn't like it when his sister smoked, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't succeed in getting her to quit.

"Ya, Namine said that she'd give us a call before the plane landed."

"How long is she visiting for? And where is she staying?" Shiziru eyed her brother and hoped he wasn't stupid and forgot to ask their cousin for that important information.

"She's staying at a hotel that she already booked and paid for, and she said until Tuesday. She sounded really excited about spending Halloween with us, you know since we haven't spent a Halloween together since before she moved."

Halloween huh? Shiziru remembered back to the Halloweens they shared together and all of the silly pranks Namine used to play on Kazuma.

"It's too bad she's going to be disappointed that she can't spend it with you, seeing as how you already promised to hang out with your friends on Halloween."

Kuwabara's face paled.

"Dang it! I gotta go call everyone and let them know Namine might be joining us!" and like an over excited child, he ran back down the hall and more than likely back to the phone.

Shiziru sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, what is she going to do with her brother? Even though he is almost a grown man now, he still sometimes acts like a child. It's hard to believe that he's almost done high school and that he proposed to Yukina, even though he doesn't have a ring. At first Yukina was speechless but after a while she came around, smiled and told Kazuma yes. It was the best day in Kazuma's life, though he promised her he'd get a ring once he was finished high school; he figures with the small part time job he has now he'll be able to save up and get one by that time. Again Shiziru sighed, when was it that Kazuma started to become his own person? She remembered back with fondness to the many memories she shared with her brother and his struggles to find himself. Though deep down she was proud of how he turned himself around and didn't follow the hoodlum path like she had, sure Shiziru has her regrets, but now she's happy with how her life is going now.

"I guess I can't keep calling you my baby bro anymore can I Kazuma?" Shiziru sadly asked no one.

Another puff she took of her cigarette and then returned into her room, she needed to get some more sleep if she were to be in a better mood for when her cousin arrived.

All in a hurry Kuwabara ran back to the phone and tried to dial up Yusuke Urameshi, but the phone line was busy so he tried for Keiko and it was the same thing.

"Gah Urameshi!" Kuwabara became frustrated with his friend; he should have known that Urameshi and Keiko would be tying up their phone lines by calling each other.

Then it was like a light bulb appeared lit over his head, "Oh I know! I'll call Kurama!"

Quickly Kuwabara flipped through their number and address book and found his friends number under his human name, it was a good thing Kuwabara had to look up the number; otherwise he'd forget to ask for Suuichi instead of Kurama. Ya Kurama's human Mother would probably wonder why he was calling her son after a wrestler, and he didn't feel like coming up with an excuse on the spot if she did ask why.

The dial tone rang and rang; he started to think that no one was home, but on the last ring before the answering machine would kick on someone answered.

"Hello? Minamono residence," it was Kurama's Mother.

"Hi Mrs. Minamono it's Kazuma Kuwabara calling," he did his best to remember his manners.

"Oh hello Kazuma, it's nice to hear from you after so long."

"Yes ma'am, sorry I haven't called as much, but I've been busy with school and studying for exams."

"I remember Suuichi having to do all of that, and it wasn't all that long ago either."

Kuwabara smiled as Kurama's Mother sounded sentimental at the memory.

"Does Suuichi happen to be home ma'am?"

"Oh I'm sorry Kazuma, but Suuichi's out at the moment. He's been spending a long time out on evening walks lately. Now I don't mean to be a prying Mother, but do you happen to know if anything happened lately? He always seems so sad when he comes home after his walks," Shiori kindly asked.

Has something happened?

"No ma'am he hasn't mentioned anything to me," Kuwabara let out a sigh, "Well thank you anyway ma'am."

"Sorry I couldn't be of any more help Kazuma, would you like to leave a message for when he gets home?"

Nah he wasn't going to bother, it's not like it was something majorly important anyway.

"No thank you ma'am. Have a goodnight."

"Thank you, you too Kazuma."

Shiori bid him farewell and hung up the phone.

Damn, why wasn't anyone home!? Sure it's not like it was world shattering news that his cousin was coming to visit, but he at least wanted to let everyone know so it wasn't such a big surprise.

Still… he wanted someone to know, that way if they had to change their plans to include her at least it wouldn't be last minute.

"Ah to hell with it, I'm heading over to Urameshi's place," Kuwabara decided and headed for the front door.

In two swift movements he had his street shoes on and headed for the door, but before he left he figured he'd let Shiziru know he was heading out.

"I'll be back later Sis, I'm heading out."

Kuwabara didn't wait for a reply as he stepped out into the late October weather and closed the door tightly behind him.

 **...**

The flight had been a long one, and even though the seats had a little bit more moving room Namine still ended up feeling cramped and claustrophobic, and the child who sat next to her didn't help either; not when he was continuously leaning in over her to watch her TV screen and to look out the window. Looking out the window she understood, but climbing over the armrest to try and peek at her TV screen, and even trying to read the book and magazines she brought was another thing entirely. Constantly through the fourteen hour flight Namine had kindly asked the boy to stop climbing over her and disturbing her peace, and for a short while he had, but then started back up like she hadn't said a thing. Eventually she reached the point where she spoke with the mother, or at least tried to; the Mother looked highly medicated and didn't seem to be grasping what Namine was saying. She groaned with annoyance as the boy ended up hitting her in the ribs during one of his climbing sessions. Finally she had had enough and called for a stewardess and the boy was told that if he didn't settle down that they were going to have to move him to another part in the plane, the person in front of the boy's seat mumbled something about throwing him in the cargo hold. It sounded like a good idea, let the boy run around down there for the rest of the flight. In the end the boy remained in his own seat and allowed Namine to get what little rest she could before the plane landed, and she still had to call her cousins to let them know she was almost there. When the last remaining hour came around the head stewardess announced it, and it was then Namine figured it would be the best time to phone her cousins just like she promised she would. Using the built in phone in the seat, Namine paid a ridiculously high price and dialed her relatives homestead, it rang a few times before someone answered and at first she didn't recognize the voice and thought that perhaps, she had misdialed. Thankfully to her relief, and wallet, she hadn't misdialed; it just turned out to be a very tired sounding Shiziru who had answered.

"Hey cuz, I take it you've landed then?" Shiziru asked over a strange noise, it sounded like something was being swatted at.

"Hey Shiziru, no I still have an hour to go roughly then we're supposed to be landing," she heard more of that strange noise, "Shiziru what is that noise I keep hearing?"

"The idiot of the family thinks he can steal the phone from me, so I had to show him who was boss."

The idiot of the family? She wasn't talking about Kazuma was she?

"You don't mean Kazuma do you?"

"The one and only," there was another sound, "He's persistent I'll give him that."

Namine couldn't help but laugh and smile as she looked out her window, how she missed her cousins.

"Does he really want to speak with me that badly, even though I spoke with him last night?"

She could hear Kazuma's voice faintly in the background, it sounded like he was grappling with Shiziru for the phone.

"What can I say, the idiot misses you,"

"I'm not an idiot!" Kazuma angrily yelled, he sounded closer to the phone.

Namine heard a loud thud from the other end of the call, uh oh, that didn't sound too good.

"Don't yell into the phone!" Shiziru snapped at her brother.

Aw, poor Kazuma.

"Maybe you should let me talk to him quickly," Namine suggested after a recorded message warned her that she only had a minute remaining for the call.

"Okay, one sec," Shiziru agreed.

There were more noises on the other end and then the distinct sound of someone handling the phone.

"Hey Namine!" it was Kazuma.

"Hey Kazuma, listen I don't have much time left, but I figured I'd let you know that I have less than an hour left and then we'll be landing. I'll call you from my hotel room and maybe see about getting together with everyone for dinner, well lunch… lupper… whatever the hell the meal time is," she laughed at her own idiotic rambling, she was too tired to think straight.

"Okay that sounds like a plan, I'll let Shiziru know and we'll meet up. Oh hey, before I forget, do you mind coming and hanging with me and my friends on Halloween?" Kazuma quickly asked.

Friends? As in the plural form of friend, Namine smiled at the news; her cousin didn't seem to be able to make friends when they were growing up, and hearing that he had some now warmed her heart.

"Sure, no problem," she continued to smile into the phone, fully knowing he wasn't able to see it.

"Actually Nami, would you mind if my friends came to meet you today? You know, just so you can meet each other," aw he used his nickname for her.

The recording message came on and informed her she had less than twenty seconds remaining.

"Shoot, sorry Kazuma my call is about to end. Um ya sure they can come, I'll call you later and we'll talk more, but I have to hang up now. Sorry. Talk to you soon!" Namine hurriedly delivered her farewell to her cousin.

"Okay bye! See you soon Namine!"

"Bye" Namine just managed to deliver her final goodbye to Kazuma just before there was a _beep_ and then a dead tone came over the phone.

Namine grumbled at the dead telephone receiver she held, for the amount of money they charge you they could at least make the phone call last longer than five minutes. No longer needing the phone Namine placed it back into its cradle and snuggled back into her seat, she might as well try to get a few more minutes of sleep before traversing the bustling airport. She'll need her wits about her when it's time to brave that overcrowded place.

Suspiciously Namine peeked out of the corner of her eye over to the little boy, and just double checked to make sure he wasn't showing any signs of being rowdy; once she closes her eyes she doesn't want to be startled awake by the boy climbing all around again. He wasn't, he was just sitting there flipping through the channels on his little TV screen. Good boy. Once again Namine snuggled deep into her seat and tried her best to block out the noise and catch a few winks before they landed.

Easier than she thought she would, Namine slipped into a peaceful sleep.

Busy didn't even touch the right word to use for the condition of the airport, the best way to describe it, it was an overpopulated gathering of people and they were all struggling to find their own way through the mass of bodies, chairs and beeping shuttles. It took Namine nearly an hour to claim her baggage, get through customs and to navigate her way to the exit where she could hail a taxi. Luckily for her there was an unoccupied taxi just outside of the doors and she quickly claimed dibs by calling out to the driver and lulling him into conversation. While the man helped her deposit her luggage into the trunk, he politely asked her how she faired during her long flight, and she kindly replied. The driver followed Namine around the vehicle and opened the passenger door for her and kindly closed it behind her after making sure she was safely inside.

The ride to the hotel Namine was staying at wasn't all that far from the airport, but was still a length away and all during the ride the polite driver engrossed her with conversation and stories of life as a taxi driver. Honestly Namine had never heard such exciting stories before from a driver; normally they were boring and ordinary, but this man claims to have survived a collision where his vehicle had flipped and caught on fire, or surviving having a parking garage collapse on him. Now she didn't know exactly how much of what the man said was true, but even if that was true that would be miraculous on its own; especially surviving at large building collapsing around you and being trapped, only to have rescuers pull him out days later. Miracles certainly are miracles, and this man seems to have had plenty over the course of his employment as a taxi driver, again if any of what he said held a grain of truth. Finally when they pulled up to the fancy looking hotel the driver offered to help Namine with her bags, but she kindly declined and grabbed all of her belongings, paid the man, and tiredly walked into the lobby through the large double doors.

Every item in the lobby, well almost every item, looked like it was plated in gold or had a marble type texture to it. Wow… this place sure likes to try and stand out, ornate vases lined a path way to the elevators, what appeared to be quartz pillars speckled the lobby, oil paintings lined the walls, and elegant red and burgundy carpets led the way to the reception desk. Namine whistled low as she eyed everything, it's amazing how she could afford a place like this, especially after living a childhood where her family didn't have a lot of spare cash. But now things were different, now that she had her own professional job that paid her well, a job she had worked extremely hard to get. Namine shook her head to clear it, that was the past and this is the present, the very thing she should be focusing on. She took a deep relaxing breath and strolled over to the reception desk, it's about time she checked in and found her room.

The lady at the desk greeted her and not realizing she had done it greeted back in English, after the receptionist gave her an awkward face of not understanding Namine had clued in and apologized in Japanese. After living in America for the last few years she was more accustomed to speaking in English now than she was her native tongue.

"I'm sorry about that, I've been out of the country for a while," Namine apologized.

The receptionist waved her apology away, "That's okay Miss, I'm just glad I didn't have to go look for our translator."

This hotel has a translator? Wow now that is prestige.

"May I please have your name so I can check you in?" she asked in a very professional voice.

"Oh yes of course, it's Namine Kuwabara."

The lady quietly repeated Namine's name as she scrolled through a computer.

"Ah yes, here it is; you'll be staying with us for five days and have already paid the booking fee," she recited off from the computer.

"Yes ma'am."

"Okay then, you'll be staying in room four-o-seven, just to inform you housekeeping is every day, and that we do have a restaurant just down that hallway there if you were to ever get hungry," she smiled at Namine before turning to fetch a key off the wall.

 _If I were to ever get hungry?_ Do people not get hungry around here anymore? Namine wanted to laugh.

"Here is your key Miss Kuwabara, and I do hope you enjoy your stay with us. If you have any questions, please, don't hesitate to ask."

Namine reached out and accepted her room key, "Thank you."

It was time for her to get up to her room, unpack a few things and call her cousins again to sort out their meeting details. So there she went following the purposely laid out rugs that led to the path of vases, which led to the elevators and pressed the call button. All the while she continued to survey her surroundings, instrumental music played from the hallway that housed the hotel's restaurant, and other patrons lounged around. It was a very hotel like scene, nothing out of the ordinary. The elevator _dinged_ and the doors slid open revealing an empty compartment and that didn't bother Namine in the slightest, after all the less people in the elevator with her the less stops she had to make on the way to her room. In she went with her luggage in toe and pressed the button for the floor she needed, the doors closed and not even a minute later the doors opened up to her floor. Namine left the elevator and walked down the hallway a few doors and used the key to open her room, and when she pushed open the heavy door, Namine paused. The room was gorgeous; there was crown molding along the ceiling, thick black curtains framed the massive window, beautiful scenic paintings decorated the light caramel and gold walls, and the bed… oh the bed. Never before has she seen such a huge bed, it must have been bigger than a king sized bed, and the comforter alone looked soft as silk, and Namine wanted to run her hands over it. In a fond daze Namine walked farther into her room and carelessly left her belongings just inside the small hallway, the door clicked closed behind her, she proceeded to the bed and lazily ran her fingers along the irresistibly smooth looking fabric, ooh, and it was so soft. Namine was going to enjoy sleeping in this bed alright. Oh how she wanted to just plunge into the over inviting bed, but she reframed; she remembered she promised to call Kazuma back and she did say when she got to the hotel.

A sigh escaped Namine, "Okay, I'll unpack a few things and then I'll call Kazuma."

With a plan decided on Namine got to work on unpacking the few things she wanted to get out of her suitcase, like the shampoos and other containers she had brought with her, and her vitamins along with some other items. Once they were all set out and in place where they were easily accessible during her daily routines, she went and sat down at the small desk near the window and dialed up her cousins. Just like the first time she had called her cousins to let them know she would be coming for a visit, Kazuma had answered the phone.

"Hey Kazuma, I'm at my hotel now and ready whenever you are to grab some food, I'm starving!" Namine said with the corner of her lips curled into a small smile.

"Oh hey Nami! What do you mean you're starving, didn't they feed you on the plane?"

"They did around the start of the flight, after that it was just pretzels and water," she explained while her stomach rumbled hungrily, "I'm ready to eat a good meal now."

Kazuma chuckled, "I heard your stomach grumble just now, well I called my friends I mentioned to you earlier and they're all here so we can leave whenever you want to go for lunch."

Oh that's right, Namine had forgotten that he wanted to bring his friends along so they could meet, but what about Shiziru is she not coming?

"That's great to hear Kazuma; I can't wait to meet everyone, but what about Shiziru? She's coming too right?" her brow furrowed in worry.

"Ya she's coming, she's upstairs getting ready for when you called, and she takes forever getting ready heh heh."

It was good to hear his chuckle again.

"Oh Kazuma I've miss you so much, it's not the same without you. I can't wait to see you guys again."

Namine felt slightly lonely in her spacious hotel room by herself.

"Me too Nami," he trailed off for a moment before continuing, "So where is it that you want to go to?"

Hmm, where did she want to go? Ooh wait, she knew exactly where she'd like to go.

"Do you remember that restaurant our parents used to take us to whenever we managed to get good grades?" Namine excitedly asked.

Kazuma hummed and hawed, "You mean the one a few streets over from our old park?"

"Ya that one!"

"Sure we can go there, what time do you want to meet?"

"How about in thirty or so minutes? I'll call the place and book a table under Kuwabara," for a moment Namine had forgotten there were going to more than just her and her cousins, "Um Kazuma how many people are there coming?"

"Just four, and then there's you, Shiziru and me, so seven."

Another smile surfaced, "Okay, I'll see you all soon!"

The excitement grew inside of Namine, she felt like a small child on her birthday.

"Ya we'll see you soon!" Kazuma responded excitedly himself.

"Bye Kazuma."

"Bye Namine," her cousin hung up.

Excitedly Namine had disconnected the call with her cousin and immediately looked up the restaurant number and reserved a table. Once she was done with the phone she replaced it into its cradle and dashed over to her suitcase, she needed to find something else to wear out to lunch; Namine didn't want to show up wearing her flying clothes, which consisted of black track pants, black slip on shoes, and her blue and white patterned t-shirt. No she wanted to wear something nice, especially since she was going to be meeting her cousin's friends.

"Hmm, what should I wear?"

 **...**

Kuwabara had hung up the phone and immediately ran to tell his sister to hurry up because they needed to get going soon if they didn't want to make Namine wait. A few minutes later and both of the Kuwabara siblings came down the stairs and motioned for their friends to join them at the front door. They all put on their street shoes and headed out the door, the women of the group grew excited and chatted amongst themselves about meeting another relative of Kazuma Kuwabara's; and it was a girl no less.

During the walk to the restaurant everyone happily conversed, teased and joked with one another. They were just a group of friends going out for lunch, there were no pending apocalypses, and no demon hordes threatening to break into Human World that they had to try preventing, they were normal. Everything was normal, or so Kuwabara first assumed, that was until he stole a look over to Kurama and found him slightly… forlorn. Kurama didn't talk much during the walk, instead he glanced around to the fall colored trees and Halloween decorated buildings, his eyes looked haunted. Was there something the matter?

"Hey Kurama, is there something bothering you? You look… almost miserable," Kuwabara asked in a concerned tone, he was worried about his friend.

Kurama glanced over to Kuwabara and then back to the tree he had been observing, "It's nothing Kuwabara, but thank you for your concern."

He didn't buy it.

"Come on Kurama, I don't mean to push you but… even your Mother had asked me if something was bothering you lately."

That caught Kurama's attention, "My mother?"

Kuwabara nodded his head, "Ya, last night when I called looking for you she had asked me if everything was okay with you. You don't have to tell me, but just know that if you ever want to talk about something, I'm here for ya man."

Kurama felt momentarily touched by his friends offer.

"Thank you Kuwabara, but that isn't necessary."

Well at least Kuwabara tried and at least he offered to listen if Kurama ever needed to talk.

The more autumn trees they passed the more Kurama's eyes became haunted and sad; like he was reliving a sad memory. Maybe he should confide in his friends, after all it's been a very long time he's had to carry this secret alone, this time of year is when it became most unbearable.

Kurama sighed heavily; it was time for him to admit one of his secrets.

"Actually Kuwabara… there is something."

His friends slowed down and patiently waited for Kurama to continue.

"It becomes hard for me around this time of year," he paused and tried to find the right words, "there is something you don't know about me…"

Kurama took a deep breath to help steady himself, "Back when I was Yoko Kurama and was running around the Demon World… I had a mate."

Yusuke's jaw dropped at the news, Kurama had had a mate once! Wait a minute… had a mate?

Kurama took notice to everyone's shocked expressions and explained, "She was killed long before I had my botched burglary and fled to Human World."

Kurama looked longingly at a vibrant yellow leafed tree, "Her name was Hana and she loved the fall season the most. Losing her almost brought the death of me, but I kept going because I knew that was what she would have wanted, and a part of me wondered if she'd ever be reincarnated, so I searched, but I never saw her again. However, now I can no longer look at a fall tree without thinking of her, so every fall I've taken up going for evening walks to try and quell the bitter and lonely emotions that run rampant through my heart. I never meant to worry anyone… but it's something I do to help deal with her loss, even to this day."

Longingly he reached out and grazed his fingers down the length of a nearby hanging leaf, he missed and ached for his lost mate and every year he went without her made the world seem that much dimmer and bleak. Having his loving mother did help, but only to an extent… nothing could replace the love he had for his mate, the raw edges of the hole in his heart throbbed with her loss. It would never be fully healed again, not without his Hana.

"I'm sorry to hear that man," Yusuke lightly gripped Kurama's shoulder in a form of comfort.

He didn't know what Kurama was feeling, Yusuke couldn't even imagine the kind of hell Kurama went through year after year, and not to mention what he felt when he saw loving couples. He didn't envy the man, and Yusuke felt sorry for his loss and wished he could do something to help his friend, but sadly knew there wasn't anything he could do.

Not wanting to have his friends dwell on the unpleasantness which made up his current state, Kurama put on a small smile and tried to encourage his friends.

"But never mind that; we're supposed to be on our way to meet your visiting cousin, we don't want to keep her waiting."

Kuwabara hesitated, "Are you sure Kurama? We don't have to go if it's hard for you…"

Kurama tried his best to seem reassuring, "Trust me Kuwabara I'll make it, I've had to deal with this for a very long time. It's just being in the fall season makes it a bit harder."

"Well… if you say so."

Everyone felt saddened for their friend and the part of his past he shared, but there was nothing any of them could do; like Kurama had said, he's had to deal with this since long before they had all met.

"The restaurant is just up ahead," Shiziru pointed out in an attempt to move past the uncomfortable aura.

Kuwabara looked down to his wrist watch and grew excited all over again as he noted the time, Namine should be here any minute.

"Let's go then, I'm so hungry I might have to resort to eating someone," Yusuke wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, "Maybe someone like Keiko."

"Yusuke you perv! We're out with our friends; you should learn how to behave!" Keiko punched him in the arm as her face went red with embarrassment.

"Okay enough lovebirds, let's get going before Yusuke gets charged for indecent exposure," Shiziru shook her head and continued on.

They laughed and watched as Keiko's face grew even redder, and Yusuke just grinned like his usual self. Keiko embarrassingly waved everyone off before she hurried to catch up with Shiziru, she really wanted to get past that embarrassing moment, and the others just chuckled and followed after them. With one last yearning glance at the fall trees Kurama let out a disheartened sigh and headed for the restaurant, all the while trying to lighten his mood so as to not bring everyone else's down with his.

 **...**

Namine marveled at her hometown's hustle and bustle, she missed the local markets, the smell of street food cooking, and the beautiful trees in their fall colors. She didn't mean to, but Namine spent a little too much time reminiscing about her childhood and now she was running a few minutes late. On the brighter side, at least it was because she was remembering fond memories and not trying to decide on an outfit. Deciding on her clothes didn't take long, in the end she went with a short sleeved t-shirt, navy blue jeans, a brown leather jacket, a pair of green chandelier earrings, and her favorite brown heeled boots. It's casual yet 'hit the town' ready if needed, and she was glad she settled on it. As it turned out, on her way to meet up with her relatives, Namine had received many compliments for her clothing from people passing by. Receiving the compliments brought a smile to the surface and that smile grew even bigger when she spotted Kazuma pacing just outside of the restaurant. Her heart beat faster at the sight of him; it's been years since she had last seen her favorite cousin, she missed spending time with him and just hanging out and talking. Since her family had moved to America Namine didn't get the chance to talk with her close cousins as much, mainly because of the time differences and the highly priced phone bill they'd get, so Namine's Father told her no more calling, and it had broken her heart to have to stop. But now here she was and just a few yards apart, she could feel the beginning prick of tears starting and she delicately wiped at her eyes; she didn't want her silly tears to ruin her eyeliner.

Finally Namine couldn't take the wait anymore and sprinted towards her cousin.

"Kazuma!" she happily exclaimed.

He turned at the sound of her voice just in time to catch her as she jumped to hug him.

 _I've forgotten how tall he is._

"Namine!" he happily greeted back as he hugged the daylights out of her.

With Namine in his arms, Kazuma twirled around a few times before setting her back down on her feet.

"It's been so long!"

"I know! And look at you, you're hair looks even lighter now… and longer," Kazuma looked his cousin over; it's been five long years since he's last seen her.

"Me? Look at you! You're a giant!" she teased, "But at least you've kept your hair the same."

"I kept telling you I was going to be way taller than you, but you never listened."

Namine giggled, "Ya but I was only seven or eight years old, and that was when you kept trying to get me to eat my vegetables."

Kazuma poked her in the side, "It worked didn't it."

She waved his finger away from her side, "Ya, ya."

Curiously Namine looked around the area, she didn't see Shiziru anywhere.

"So where's Shiziru? And your friends you mentioned? I'd love to meet them."

"Oh ya, well we got here a few minutes ago and since we didn't see you we figured you were already inside waiting. When we got in there they told us no one had shown up for the reservation yet, so everyone is at the table already and I came out here to wait for you."

Aw.

"Sorry I'm late, I got caught up in a walk down memory lane on the way here," she sent him an apologetic look, "lead the way Kazuma."

"Heh, heh, right this way Namine," Kazuma held open the door for her and followed her in to the brightly lit restaurant.

"Oh wow, this place hasn't changed at all!" she was amazed that the interior and layout of the place was still how she remembered it.

"Ya they really haven't done much to it, except giving it a fresh coat of paint every few year," Kazuma smiled at Namine as she looked about with fondness, "Come on, our table is over here."

Gently Kazuma took hold of Namine's elbow and steered her to the far side of the building, and as they came closer and closer to their designated table, Namine spotted her other cousin. The feeling of butterflies appeared in her stomach as she also noticed the other people who sat with Shiziru, again she had forgotten she's meeting new people today and a wave of nerves washed over her; ever since she was a child Namine grew shy around new people. With the help of her cousins and family she slowly grew out of the habit, but after being bullied and picked on for as long as Namine had been it has proven to be a difficult obstacle to tackle. Though with time she had improved little by little.

As calmly as she could Namine took in a deep breath to help calm her nerves and followed Kazuma over to the table. Step after step Namine took and soon she found herself close to the table, Shiziru must have sensed she was near, because her cousin looked over her way and smiled once she saw her.

"Hey cuz, long time no see," Shiziru greeted as calm and collective as ever.

"Hi Shiziru!" Namine greeted happily.

The butterflies completely forgotten she made her way through tables and chairs to get to her cousin and pulled Shiziru into a hug, she returned the hug with just as much feelings as Namine had; they were close growing up and having to move away was a life changing event for all of them. All throughout her childhood Namine had looked up to Shiziru as a type of role model, she was everything Namine wanted to be, strong, smart, beautiful and confident. Over the years both of her cousins tried to help Namine out, especially during the time when she was bullied; Namine was teased and made fun of because of the color of her eyes, they were a mix of different shades of blue and a small tint of purple. Now a days people thought they were beautiful eyes, but growing up she had been called 'freak' and 'monster' because of them, she was also teased for not filling out like the other girls, it had taken her a bit longer and now she looked like any other eighteen year old girl. But during the time when she was picked on it had sometimes gotten physical, the other kids would poke and push, pull and yank at her hair, they would even sometimes follow her home and throw things at her. Luckily there was a time when her cousins had been waiting outside of her house for her to return home from school, and when they saw her being picked on they came to her rescue. After that encounter Shiziru had insisted that she'd teach Namine how to defend herself, and that it wasn't okay for her to be treated that way. Namine owed her cousins a lot for helping her out back then, if they hadn't shown her how to stand up for herself it was more than likely she'd be a total shut in, but thanks to them she wasn't and she now had the confidence she needed to tackle whatever life threw at her.

As Namine pulled out of the hug she shared with Shiziru, she heard the unmistakable sound of utensils clattering onto a plate and someone quietly gasped a name, and it felt like it was directed at her, but it wasn't her name. Standing up straight after finishing her hug with Shiziru, Namine turned to the other occupants at the table and smiled in greeting.

"Hello everyone, I'm Namine, Kazuma and Shiziru's cousin."

Everyone greeted her back, but one man, the one with the long red hair and vibrant green eyes; he stared at her with an unbelievable look in his eyes, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Namine wasn't sure what it was, but there was a feeling deep within her that made her heart skip a beat when she looked into his eyes… they looked familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time. It was peculiar.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked the stunned man.

He shook his head slightly as if to clear it, "No, sorry I didn't mean to stare," he paused for a moment, "It's just you look like someone I've seen before."

Oh, well that wasn't uncommon for her to hear.

"That's okay; maybe you've seen some of my photos?" Namine asked as Kazuma kindly pulled out a chair between him and Shiziru for her to sit down in.

Namine sat down and removed her jacket and scarf before the man answered her.

"Photos?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure they sell the magazine here. I model for a clothing magazine back home in the United States," Namine couldn't keep the pride from her voice.

"Wow you're a model? Kuwabara never said anything about that, or that you lived in the United States either," the woman with long brown hair gushed.

Namine looked disbelievingly over to her cousin, really? He never mentioned what she did for a job or where she was visiting from? Oh Kazuma.

"Did you tell them anything about me?" Namine asked her guilty looking cousin.

Sheepishly Kazuma scratched at his head, "Well… no I forgot; I was just so excited that you were visiting."

She shook her head at Kazuma and then brought her attention back to his friends, "Let's start over; hi I'm Namine Kuwabara, I'm their cousin on their Father's side, I live in New York City and I model for a living."

"I'm Yusuke Urameshi, that's Keiko my fiancée, he's Kurama or Suuichi, and I'll let Kuwabara introduce the other lady," Yusuke recovered his mistake with a smile.

"Well which is it? Kurama or Suuichi?"

The name Kurama somehow felt familiar to her ears, but Namine doesn't recall ever hearing that name before.

"My name is Suuichi, but Kurama is a nickname," the red head explained.

Namine tried out both of the names and found she favored the feel and sound of Kurama for his name rather than Suuichi.

"Hm, I actually like the nickname Kurama, which would you prefer me to use?" Namine politely asked, she wasn't about to start calling him by his nickname since they had only just met.

Quietly she sat and watched as he seemed to savor the sound of her saying his nickname, like he hadn't heard it spoken in such a long time. Slowly he opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Which ever one you wish, I answer to both," Kurama answered.

"Well it's nice to meet all of you, Yusuke, Keiko and Kurama," she smiled at everyone before turning to Kazuma, "Now Kazuma who is this lovely lady beside you?"

"You mean you?" he teased.

She joking swatted at him, "No, I mean the one you unconsciously lean towards whenever you get to far from her," Namine eyed him suspiciously; there was something there that hasn't been shared yet.

Kazuma's face brightened and the woman's went a shade of pink.

"This is Yukina, she's my fiancée," he wore a large grin.

His fiancée, No way!

"Oh my goodness! Congratulations Kazuma!" Namine gave him a sideways hug in congratulations.

Namine felt so proud for her cousin, he went from having no friends to having some and now he's engaged, she couldn't be happier for him. Kazuma deserved to be happy for all of the things he's done to help out others, especially Namine; with everything he's helped Namine with she wished for his happiness, and now he's found it.

"Thanks Nami, you'll come to the wedding won't you?"

"Of course I will! Just give me a good heads up to when that is so I can arrange it off," Namine thought that was such a silly question, would she go, of course she would!

"So Namine, do you have any other family like brothers or sisters?" Keiko asked before taking a sip from her water glass.

"No it's just me and my Dad now, my Mom lost her fight with liver cancer last year and passed away," Namine fiddled with her water glass as she tried to restrain the urge to cry.

Whenever she thought of her Mom it would bring Namine to tears; she was very close with her Mom and missed her terribly, her Mom was her support when things became too hard and frustrating in her life, and now she was gone.

"I'm sorry to hear that Namine," Keiko reached over and gently clasped Namine's hand.

"At least she's not in pain anymore," Shiziru piped up, her eyes looked sad.

Namine agreed, "Ya, she's in a better place now."

Before anyone could say anything else their waiter appeared and asked if they were ready to order, and everyone nodded yes. They ordered their meals and chit chatted the rest of the afternoon away in the restaurant, Namine grew to like Kazuma's friends and was happy to apart of their group for the next few days.

Once they were done with their meals and decided to leave the restaurant they all agreed to go for a stroll through the park, which also hadn't changed much since Namine had last been there, it still held the lovely pond, large playground for children and now it seems they even grew a small mini maze. After seeing the maze Namine pleaded with her relatives to go through it with her, but Shiziru declined saying it was for kids and left to go sit on a bench with the others who had shook their heads no. The only ones who agreed to go with Namine were Kazuma and Kurama, Namine knew it was indeed childish of her to run through a small maze for kids, but she couldn't help it; this park is a part of her childhood and this maze wasn't there, so she felt the need to include it in her fond memories. All through the maze Kurama had kept close and faintly smiled when he assumed she wasn't looking, and when she found herself at a dead end he quietly chuckled, but then there was Kazuma going his own way and whenever he hit a dead end, he just stepped over the hip high bushes. Namine told him that he was cheating and defeating the purpose of the maze, and in his Kazuma fashion he waved her off. Namine had rolled her eyes and tried again to find her way out of the mini maze, all the while Kurama followed her like a lost puppy, and she just brushed it off. After they tackled the maze Shiziru asked if anyone wanted to continue on with the walk or if they wanted to do something else, in the end everyone agreed to keep going on their stroll.

The day went by in a blur, Namine had enjoyed spending her time with everyone; particularly Kurama, he seemed to be the one most interested in her, it was like he wanted to know everything about her. In the end they had gone for a walk, stopped for some coffee, went and seen a movie at the theater, and decided what exactly the plan was for Halloween. Eventually time had slipped by rather quickly and before anyone knew it, it was already late in the evening, and Namine couldn't stop herself from yawning; today has been a long day for her with the long flight. Tiredly Namine had bid goodnight to her cousins and friends, and while doing so Kurama looked almost hesitant to say goodbye; it looked like a flicker of panic flashed in his eyes, but he told her goodnight anyway. Namine had thought it was strange to have noticed the almost panicked look in his eyes, but she brushed it off saying it was probably her imagination. Sleepily after parting ways she headed for the hotel she was staying at, luckily for her and her steadily growing sore eyes, the hotel wasn't too far away. It didn't take her long to reach the hotel, enter the lobby and summon an elevator, she tried her best not to drag her feet along the way when she walked, but it happened anyways. Once she was safely in her room Namine changed into her knee length nightgown and crawled into the ever inviting bed. Ooh this bed should be illegal for how soft and amazingly comfortable it was, after the day she's had with being cooped up in the airplane this felt like heaven. It wasn't long before she slipped peacefully away into the realm of dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

Namine had woken up and felt completely refreshed after the peaceful sleep she had last night, in fact she ended up sleeping in until noon, and that's something she isn't used to doing. After waking up she had a shower and excitedly collected her things she'd need for her Halloween costume and safely tucked it all away in a bag. Yesterday Shiziru said she'd help Namine get ready with her costume and volunteered to do her hair for her. It's been so long since Shiziru helped style Namine's hair, she was looking forward to it with a childlike giddiness. Not sure if Shiziru would need anything to do her hair or not, Namine packed her hair supplies just to be on the safe side. After making sure she had everything she thought she'd need, Namine grabbed all of the bags and headed out the door, a smile plastered on her face as the excitement grew in her again. Namine couldn't wait to see what her cousins were dressing up as and their friends, yesterday no one would dish about what their costumes were going to be. The possibilities of their costumes were endless, and Namine found it entertaining to try and picture them in different costumes, some she found funny and others were just silly, like Kazuma dressed as a princess. It was a funny thing to picture indeed, but at least it occupied her taxi ride to her cousin's house.

Wow this place sure brought back memories; the family events, the sleepovers, and just visiting in general. Oh how Namine missed it all, she'd love to move back here to be closer to her other family members, but now that her Mom has passed away and is now buried in the U.S she doesn't think her Dad would want to move. Having lost her Mom the previous year it became hard to even think about moving, if they did it'd be like they were abandoning her Mom… at least that's what her Dad had once said when someone had asked if they'd ever move. Namine felt nostalgic as she looked upon her Uncle's house, so many memories she shared here, and she was about to make some more that she could look back on fondly.

"Hey Namine, are you planning on just standing out there staring at the house like a weirdo or are you going to come in so I can do your hair?" Shiziru called out as she leaned out of her bedroom window.

Oh, Namine hadn't even seen Shiziru there.

Now she just felt silly, "Coming!"

With a new bright smile Namine hurried to the front door and let herself in, she kicked off her street shoes and skipped through the house, it looked like it was just her and Shiziru that were home. Namine glanced around the living area and brought up happy memories, memory upon memory flooded through her mind's eye until she spotted some photos hanging on the far wall; they were copies of some of her photo-shoots. The one that stood out the most was the one where Namine had been dressed like a stylish singer that was dramatically holding the mic, it was actually one of her favorite pictures she's done. Her Mom must have sent them a copy to have, a bang of heartache echoed inside her; she really missed her Mom.

"Your Mom sent us a picture of you whenever she could," Shiziru explained from behind Namine, "She was very proud of you Namine."

Sentimentally Namine reached out and stroked the nearby picture frame, her Mom always liked keeping the family connected and she did so by sending them pictures of her progress through her career.

"I hope I did make her proud," Namine let her hand drop down to her side before she continued, "I did my best."

Shiziru placed her hand on Namine's shoulder, "You did."

"Thanks Shiziru."

A silence settled between the cousins and Shiziru was the first to break it.

"We should get started on your hair if we're going to be ready for when everyone shows up."

Namine nodded," ya you're right, but where is Kazuma?"

"He finally convinced Yukina to wear a costume, so he went out with her to find one for tonight."

"Aw he's so sweet. I'm happy he found someone he wants to spend his life with."

"Me too, he's grown up without me realizing it…" Shiziru looked almost sad at the realization that Kazuma has grown up and wasn't the punk she was used to dealing with.

"Anyway Namine we should get things going before it gets any later in the day."

"Right, lead the way Shiziru."

Shiziru leaned forward and relieved Namine of one of the bags she had brought with her and lead her up the stairs to her room. With both of them in the room Shiziru kicked the door closed and turned to face her younger cousin, so many ideas for Namine's hair ran through her mind, there were so many cute hairdos she could do with that beautiful blonde hair.

"So do you have any hairstyle requests?" Shiziru asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.

 **...**

Kazuma walked along side Yukina and he couldn't feel prouder to have her curling her arm lovingly around his, Yukina is his world now and there wasn't anything he wouldn't do to make her happy. He decided a long time ago, even before she became his fiancée, that he'd do whatever he could to make her stay here in the Human World that much more comfortable. One of the things Yukina had found fascinating, had been how the humans celebrated Halloween and dressed up in all kinds of different costumes, Yukina had been shocked to see that there were even demon costumes. Did humans really dress up as demons on this Halloween? And if they did, why? To help clear her confusion and curiosity Yukina had asked Kazuma about it and he explained it to her as best as he could. Learning about how humans dressed up to venture around the streets asking for candy made Yukina's curiosity about this occasion grow, she was looking forward to trying out dressing up like the others, only she would be a witch instead of her normal self. For just an evening Yukina was going to shed her Ice Maiden persona and put on the witch costume and see where things lead. She couldn't wait, nor could she wait to see what costumes her friends were going to don tonight. Yukina's excitement was almost palpable, and Kazuma was the one to thank for convincing her she should at least try it.

"Thank you for helping me change my mind Kazuma, I can't wait to try out this human tradition with you," Yukina thanked her beloved and smiled her heartwarming smile at him.

Kazuma's face went as red as a tomato with her smile directed at him like that.

"There's no need to thank me, I'm just glad you've decided to join in on the fun of dressing up."

Yes, it should be fun tonight.

When Yukina focused her attention to what was ahead of her, she spotted someone over by the Kuwabara's house door.

"Kazuma, who is that by your front door?"

Kazuma looked over to his house and also noticed someone by his house, instinctively his body tensed at the thought of someone trying to peek into his house to try and catch a glimpse of his sister, or now his cousin. The person by the door shifted and brought more of their figure into Kazuma's line of sight, and he sighed in relief; it wasn't a peeping tom… it was just Yusuke, though he could still classify Yusuke as a peeping pervert.

"Urameshi! What are you doing peeping into my house, you pervert!" Kazuma shouted.

Yusuke turned in Kazuma's direction and scowled, "I'm not being a pervert! I'm trying to get someone to let me in, before I drop all of Keiko's things!"

Kazuma took a closer look at his friend and found that Yusuke was holding a bunch of boxes and bags. Oh… well he still looked like a pervert to him.

"Did you try the doorbell you ding bat?"

Yusuke looked like he was ready to kill his best friend, "Of course I did! No one's answered!"

Yukina watched Yusuke struggle with the heavy load he was carrying and went to go offer him assistance by taking a few of the boxes, he smiled and thanked her, then turned to his friend and bitched him out for not coming to help.

"I have far more valuable things in my bag and I don't want to break or dirty them."

"What could you possibly have in that one bag that's so valuable?" Yusuke grumbled.

"It's Yukina's costume."

Kazuma stated simply as he reached where Yusuke stood, now that he thought about it, where is Keiko if Yusuke is here with all of her things?

"Hey Urameshi, where's Keiko?" he asked while trying to open the front door, only to find it locked… and he didn't have a key on him.

"She forgot something back at the store we were at and ran back there to get it. Are you going to open the door any time soon?"

"It's locked," he hung his head feeling ashamed that he had forgotten to grab his key on the way out.

"Well where the hell is everybody!?" Yusuke barked as he repeatedly pushed the doorbell button.

"No don't!" Kazuma went to stop Yusuke.

It was too late, he could clearly hear the rapid footfalls and knew what was about to happen. The front door swung open to reveal a very unhappy looking Shiziru.

"What the hell are you doing?! I'm upstairs trying to help Namine with her hair and all we hear is you idiots ramming the damn doorbell!" Shiziru angrily snapped, "But not you Yukina, I know you know better than to do that."

Shiziru glared at Yusuke, who was innocently pointing a finger towards her brother; he was trying to pass the blame onto Kazuma, Shiziru knew better.

"Don't try and pull that shit Yusuke, just get in the house and don't disturb me anymore."

Vigorously he nodded his head and quickly scooted by Shiziru and into the house, her brother and Yukina followed after him.

With everyone now in the house Shiziru flung the door closed and headed for the stairs, "If anyone comes to the door you answer it now Kazuma, and if there's any trick-or-treaters the candy is in the kitchen."

"Okay, thanks Shiziru," Kazuma went to go put down the bag he carried then remembered something, "Hey Shiziru, you're doing Keiko's hair too aren't you? Do you want me to send her up when she gets here?"

"Ya, she'll be next. Thanks baby bro."

Shiziru climbed the stairs and disappeared behind the wall, wow she has her work cut out for her today; she's already working on Namine's long hair, but then she has to work on Keiko's hair, Yukina's and then her own hair. It's a good thing she's a skilled hairstylist and can manage her time better than he could, if it were Kazuma, he'd be frantic to get everything done and end up burning a circuit in his brain.

Over the course of a few hours Keiko had returned with yet another box to add to her collection, when she finished handing Yusuke the box Kazuma told her that she could go up to his sister's room whenever she was ready to. Not long after Keiko showed up little kids began arriving and asking for candy in their cute little costumes, and like every house out there this night; Kazuma dished out the candy and waved goodbye to the trick-or-treaters and their parents, some of which he actually knew. During the time they waited for the girls upstairs to get ready, Yusuke had changed into his Halloween costume, which turned out to just be him in his Mazoku demon form. At seeing Yusuke's costume Kazuma criticized Yusuke for not being more creative, and that he better not flip out and eat someone, literally, he'd have to give him the beat down if he did. In good old Yusuke fashion he flipped Kazuma off and flashed his fangs at him, to which Kazuma told him to shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

After the most recent group of kids left the last remaining person of their group had finally arrived, Kurama had apologized for being late but it turns out that a group of teenagers thought it would be funny to try and egg his Mother's house. That was a very unwise thing to do, and those teenagers had found out the hard way when Kurama had confronted them.

"It's okay Kurama; at least you're here now. If you want to get changed you can use my room," Kazuma offered as he set the bowl of candy down on a stand.

"Thank you, I might change in a minute," Kurama placed his bag down on a chair and wandered into the living area.

While walking over to the couch to sit a framed picture had caught his attention, rather a few of the pictures had caught his attention; they were of someone he thought he'd never see again, that was until recently. In each of the photos that had captured his interest was Namine, and in each photo she was dressed differently, some were very emotional, others were flashy with bold clothing, but never the less she looked as beautiful as ever.

"It sure is a rare phenomenon to find out that my lost mate has been reborn into your family Kuwabara," Kurama said as he ran a finger around one of the picture's frames.

"What?" Kazuma sounded shocked.

"Ya what are you talking about Kurama, you told us yesterday that she's been dead for a long time now," Yusuke interjected.

Kurama want to go find Namine and embrace her so badly, but knew that she wouldn't recognize him as her long ago mate. With a yearning like none other, Kurama removed the photo of Namine holding a mic and took a closer look at it; she appeared to be almost crying in this picture, and yet the photo still seemed beautiful even with those tears.

Still Kurama held the framed photograph, "That's why I said reborn, Hana most have been reincarnated as Namine."

Kazuma seemed skeptical, "How can you be so sure that Namine is Hana?"

"She is the splitting imagine of Hana, everything is the same, her hair, eyes… even her voice."

"How can you be sure you're not just reflecting Hana's likeliness onto Namine? I don't mean to crush you Kurama, but come on, what are the odds of your mate being reincarnated as Namine?" Yusuke asked, he didn't want to be the one to burst his friends bubble, but it had to be asked.

Carefully Kurama replaced the picture back onto the wall and silently walked over to the bag he had set down earlier and rummaged through it, after a few seconds he pulled something out and produced it to Kazuma, it was a small foldable photo frame, like a small book. Curiously Kazuma took it from Kurama and opened it, inside was a portrait of a woman who looked like the identical twin to Namine, the only difference was that this woman had a set of pure white wings.

"Whoa…" Kazuma stared at the picture, "It can't be…"

Wanting to know what he was looking at, Yusuke stood from his seat on the couch and went to stand next to the stunned Kazuma.

"What?" Yusuke leaned in a glanced at the portrait, "Holy shit, that's uncanny!"

Namine and the woman in the portrait were one and the same, minus the wings and that Namine had slightly longer hair. But everything else was a mirror image.

"That's Hana?" Yusuke asked as he looked at Kurama for verification.

Kurama nodded his head and reached for the only portrait of Hana he had, "Yes."

"Okay, so they may look the same, but that doesn't mean anything," Kazuma felt oddly defiant of this news.

"They share some of the same mannerisms, like the way when she stands still for longer than a minute Namine will twirl a small strand of her hair around her fingers before clasping it between her lips. Then she'll do it again with another strand of hair and then proceed to braid the two strands together. It's the same thing Hana did. Or how when she's sitting she'll tap her toes together before curling them around the chair's legs," Kurama explained, a look of pain flickered across his eyes.

Well… Kazuma couldn't argue with that, sure he'd noticed Namine playing with her hair when she was standing still, but he had no idea that she did that with her feet. But how are they supposed to proceed now? Is he supposed to act like he never heard the news that she might be Kurama's reincarnated mate, or was he supposed to tell her the truth?

"Guys, I don't know how Namine is going to take hearing this kind of news?" Kazuma handed the portrait back to Kurama and sat down on the couch.

He was glad that it was just the three of them down here in the living room and that all of the girls were up in Shiziru's room; he wasn't sure how they'd take hearing the news, let alone Namine, how would she take it?

"It is something that she'll have to be slowly eased into, simply blurting it out might not be the best idea," Kurama agreed.

Yusuke looked over to his friend, "How can you be so calm and collective right now? You just found out that your long lost mate has been reborn and just so happens to be one of the women upstairs getting dressed for Halloween."

Kurama looked over to Yusuke with resolve, "Yusuke I've spent the better part of the last three hundred years mourning the loss of my mate, I've dealt with her loss as best as I could and barely managed to keep going, and the hope I had of one day seeing her again dwindled away with each passing year. Now when most people believe that the pain has been numbed after such a long time, which it hasn't, I'm introduced to a woman who is the identical copy to my Hana; meeting her in the restaurant I had to fight back the overwhelming urge to go and embrace her. I know she doesn't know who I am and I'm not going to force myself on her and beg her to remember something she has no recollection of, because if she did remember I'm sure she wouldn't have hesitated to have done the same," Kurama glanced away for a moment before returning her gaze back to Yusuke, "If Namine were to ever find out about it, I'd sit down with her and talk it over, I wouldn't force her to accept it; she's her own person, she's not just Hana, she's Namine as well. I want to get to know her as Namine, because that's who she is now, Hana is just an old chapter in her life and that chapter doesn't make up all of her. She deserves better than that, she deserves to be loved for who she is… not only for who she was."

For a while Kazuma sat there and listened to what Kurama had to say, and honestly? He felt like Namine was in safe hands, Kurama wasn't going to force his ideals of Hana onto his cousin, instead he was going to get to know Namine and love her for who she is now. He was happy to hear what Kurama had to say and how he felt; now there were no uncertain lines drawn between them all.

"Okay Kurama."

Kurama looked over to Kazuma with a questioning look, "What?"

Kazuma held out his hand to his friend, "I know you'll do what's best for my cousin. Just know that if you harm her in anyway while trying to sort this Hana and Namine stuff out, I will be coming after you."

With a small smile Kurama took Kazuma's hand and shook it, he was glad to hear it and thought it amusing that Kazuma would threaten him in such a way. Though last night both Shiziru and Kazuma had mentioned how protective they were of Namine; they had also informed everyone that Namine had been bullied when she was younger, which is why they were so protective. It was good to know that she was brought into a family that cared for her in such a way, Hana never had that luxury, and now that's one of the differences between the two.

"Hey Yusuke, how do I look?" Keiko's voice came from over by the stairs.

The three men turned and observed Keiko in her female pirate Halloween costume, it suited her in a way, the cuffed knee high boots, and the ruffled off the shoulder blouse, and everything seemed to compliment the woman.

"You… look beautiful Keiko," Yusuke embarrassingly gushed in front of his friends.

Both Kurama and Kazuma nodded their heads in approval.

"Is Yukina done yet?" Kazuma asked, he really wanted to see what his fiancée looked like in her costume.

Keiko shook her head, "No not yet, Shiziru is just finishing up with her hair and then she'll be down. How come you haven't gotten into your costume yet Kuwabara, and you too Kurama? Shiziru said we'll be leaving once we're finished upstairs."

"Sorry, we got carried away with trivial matters, we'll get changed immediately so we'll be ready to leave once you're all finished," Kurama kindly replied as he stealthily hid the foldable photo frame from her sight.

"Okay, well I'll go let them know then," Keiko went to go back up the stairs but stopped when she remembered something, "Yusuke can you get the camera? I'd like to get a picture of us all before we head out."

Yusuke nodded, "Okay I'll get it."

"Thanks," she gave him a wink and went up the stairs.

"I'm so whipped," Yusuke quietly mumbled.

Kazuma nodded in agreement, "Me too, I'd do anything for Yukina."

"Now you both know what it's like to have someone being your entire world, cherish it always and never falter," Kurama said with a sad smile and went to gather his things so he could change.

"At least you're getting a second shot Kurama," Yusuke tried his best to sound upbeat.

The corner of Kurama's mouth raised in a half smile, "I hope so Yusuke, I hope so."

 **...**

Namine couldn't hold in her excitement anymore, she wanted to see what she looked like in her costume; her Mom was the one who suggested this costume, she was supposed to wear it the year before, but with the death of her Mom she couldn't bring herself to wear it. But this year she figured she'd honor her Mom by wearing it.

Again Namine fidgeted in her seat which earned her a look from Shiziru.

"Namine hold still, you're almost done."

"Sorry, I can't help it."

Shiziru shook her head and finished fastening the little black top hate with orange tulle to Namine's hair.

"There all done," Shiziru dusted off her hands, "My work here is done. Now all of you get out so I can change."

Like a tired mother figure Shiziru shooed them out of her room, now that Namine and the girls were ready they headed downstairs to join the men. Keiko led the way and descended the stairs first, and then Yukina and Kazuma gushed over how she looked in her lovely purple and pink witch costume. Lastly Namine went down the stairs, her orange and black tulle train trailed behind her, and she felt so radiant in her burlesque costume. The colors were just orange and black; she wore a solid black corset that had an attached black and orange tulle skirt that reached half way to her knees, and the back train of the skirt fell down to her heels when she stood. An orange tulle boa wrapped around her body starting at her waist and curling around her front to end up wrapped around her neck, and to complete the outfit Namine wore a pair of black leggings, black calf high boots and the matching mini top hat. Her Mom had helped pick it out for last year's Halloween, and for over a year it had hung forgotten in her closet, but a few weeks ago Namine had rediscovered it and knew she wanted to wear it for this Halloween, and who better to celebrate it with than her cousins. When it was Namine's turn to arrive at the bottom of the stairs she heard someone harshly intake a breath.

"Namine…" Kurama breathed.

"Yes?"

He smiled, "You look positively lovely."

Namine could feel her cheeks heat up in a blush, normally she was used to compliments like that; especially in her line of work, but when he said it, it felt like so much more.

"Thank you."

All the while everyone was wrapped up on complimenting each other on their costumes; Yusuke as a Mazoku, Kazuma as a rubber nosed werewolf, Yukina as a witch, Keiko's pirate costume, Namine with her burlesque costume, and Kurama with his dark burgundy Count Dracula costume. With Kurama's outfit it consisted of a very sophisticated looking button vest, dark gray dress shirt, black dress pants and a burgundy liner black cape, and of course he had a set of fangs to go with it. Now with Kazuma's costume he wore a rubber snout, wolf ears, plastic werewolf fangs, furry hands and some torn clothing of his. It was a good costume, but with it on Kazuma it seemed almost comical.

"Alright I'm ready, let's get going before the haunted house gets over run with a bunch of giddy kids," Shiziru announced from behind Namine.

Namine turned around and found her cousin to be dressed as a gypsy, like Esmerelda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame. It looked really good on her.

"Wait!" Keiko exclaimed while she looked at Yusuke for something, "I'd like to get a picture of us all before we head out."

That sounded like a great idea.

"Okay, but let's make it quick," Shiziru agreed.

Everyone assembled in front of the wall that Namine's photos hung and patiently waited for Keiko to set the timer on the camera, she pressed the button and hurried to her spot. They all posed and the flash went, hopefully a certain cousin of Namine's wasn't making a silly face, much like he normally did whenever he took a picture. Though once Namine stopped to think about it, Kazuma probably didn't make a face; not when Yukina was in the picture.

"Alright let's go!" Yusuke excitedly exclaimed as he fist pumped the air.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Keiko agreed as she wrapped her arms around Yusuke's muscular arm.

Everyone gathered up their purses and whatever else they needed and headed out into the crowded street, tonight is going to be a fun night.

Children of all kinds ran through the streets chasing one another, all of them were giddy and happy as they ran by Namine and her group. It was interesting to see the creativity some of them had put into their costumes, there was one girl's costume that caught Namine's attention, the girl seemed only to be a few years younger than Namine herself. What caught her attention was the wings she wore, they appeared to be home made and had a lot of effort put into them and it showed, because they were absolutely stunning.

"I wish I had wings," Namine sighed as she imagined herself with a pair of gorgeous wings, as silly as it sounded.

"What was that Namine?" Kazuma asked while he turned to look back at her.

Namine waved her hands, "It was nothing, don't worry about it Kazuma."

Innocently she smiled at her cousin; she didn't want to say something that silly any louder than she had; she didn't know why but she felt like she should keep it to herself; however Namine wasn't aware that someone in their small group in fact did hear.

"Well if it isn't my good pal Yusuke Urameshi," a heavily accented voice called.

Yusuke turned around and immediately brightened up, "Jin! Haha, what are you doing here!?"

A tall man dressed in a pair of loose pants and what were basically two strips of cloth and some decorative elbow and knee pads strode over to Yusuke, his bold red hair was caught in a slight breeze and revealed a small horn and elf like ears on the man. Namine wondered what he was supposed to be for Halloween, but then she caught sight of a woman trailing not that far behind the man Yusuke had called Jin. This woman had wolf ears that were mainly black except for the tip of her left ear it was white, her hair were matching colors the majority of her hair was black but then her bangs and side bangs were white, and she had a wolf like tail that was also a matching black with speckles of white. The woman also wore a long sleeved red and black plaid button down shirt and black jeans, it looked suiting for her. After observing the woman's costume the thing that stood out the most to Namine were the woman's eyes, they were a beautiful blue, like the kind one would see in a picture taken of a crystal clear mountain lake. Namine loved the color.

"Well Aiko and I figured that since it's Halloween in Human World it would be safe for us to come visit; since all the humans are dressed up as funny looking monsters," the man answered, his accent sometimes made his words hard to understand, but it looked like the woman he was with loved to hear him speak.

Yusuke lightly punched Jin on the shoulder, "Well look at you, that's a great idea," Yusuke peered around the area, "Are any of the others with you?"

"Nah, it's just me and my girl."

Yusuke, Kazuma and Kurama all looked taken aback, "Your girl?"

Proudly Jin wrapped his arm around the woman dressed as a wolf, "This is Aiko, and we met shortly after the Demon World Tournament."

Demon World Tournament what are they talking about? Namine glanced around to her cousins and friends, they all seemed to know what they were talking about and didn't look fazed at all.

"What's a Demon World Tournament?" Namine asked.

Instantly after she asked her question all of the members of her group went rigid, it was like they had said something someone wasn't supposed to hear, like it was supposed to remain a secret. Unsurely Yusuke shifted his gaze from one person to the other, like he was silently asking what he should do. Jin uneasily scratched the back of his head and shot what seemed to be an apologetic look to Yusuke and the others, but Aiko she did something Namine was least expecting, she leaned in close to Namine and sniffed.

Namine leaned away from Aiko, "Did you just sniff me?"

Aiko straightened back to her full height, "She smells human."

 _I smell human? What is she talking about?_

"I'm sorry but am I not supposed to smell like the species I am?"

Jin looked somewhat surprised, "You're human?"

 _Well ya…_

"Yes I am," Namine admitted, "And so is he, him, him, her, her, and her," Namine continued to point to the other members of her group.

Yusuke, Kazuma, Kurama and Jin grew more uneasy, Namine didn't understand why everyone was suddenly being all closed off and secretive; is there something they knew that she didn't? Like an unamusing joke she wasn't apart of?

"Well it was great seeing you, but we really should get going; we're going to a haunted house," Shiziru quickly announced before wrapping her arm around Namine's and gently pulled her along.

"Right, we should get going," Kazuma agreed, he seemed more than too happy to get going.

"A haunted house? Maybe we should tag along, what do you think Jin?" Aiko asked.

Jin perked up at the idea, "We should! So what do you say Urameshi, mind if we tag along?"

"Sure…" Yusuke hesitated and waited until Namine was out of earshot, "Just don't say any weird stuff around Namine, she's Kuwabara's cousin who's visiting from out east. She's a human and doesn't know about demon apparitions, Spirit or Demon World, so watch what you say."

"She doesn't know about us demons, really?" Aiko asked incredulously.

"Ya so watch it."

"I don't like your tone," Aiko narrowed her eyes at Yusuke.

Yusuke shot her back an equally challenging stare, "You won't like it when I have to uphold the Demon World's treaty code on you, now would you?"

Aiko growled, she both liked and hated the 'no causing mischief in Human World' rule, and as the founder of the Demon World Tournament, Yusuke Urameshi would be one of the ones to enforce that rule and punish those who broke it.

"She'll be fine Yusuke, I'll keep an eye on her," Jin promised.

"I hope so man; I'd hate to have to teach your girl a lesson about following the rules."

Yusuke wanted to laugh at what he just said, following the rules, like he was one to preach; back when he attended school that's all he did was break the rules.

"Are you guys finished or what? We're going to be late!" Shiziru called.

"Hey Yusuke…" Jin grabbed Yusuke's attention again, "where'd your human female friend go?"

Everyone quickly turned to look over to where Shiziru was and found Namine missing, she was nowhere in sight. There wasn't a trace of her anywhere nearby and Kurama's gut went into a tight knot… he felt this once before and panic tried its best to set in.

"Namine," Kurama called.

There was no answer.

 **...**

While Shiziru had pulled Namine away from the hushed voiced group she had patiently waited for them to finish, as she waited Namine looked around the street and smiled at the overly happy children running around trick-or-treating. While she observed the mass of children Namine had spotted something suspicious over by one of the alleyways, it looked like a small girl dressed as a cat was being dragged into the dark alley, but the little girl seemed to be unconscious. The overwhelming need to know if she was okay or not overtook Namine, she left the others behind to go check it out and headed straight for the alley where she had last seen the girl. When Namine reached the dark alley it was hard to see, there was hardly any light illuminating the small space, but what disconcerted her the most was how there was no sound, nothing, not a peep.

"Hello… Little girl are you okay?" Namine called and was met with silence.

Uneasily she took a few steps into the alley; she wanted to know if the girl was unharmed because she was sure she saw the girl was unconscious. A noise sounded from in front of Namine and she stopped walking immediately, what was that sound?

"Hello?" Namine tried again.

The sound of heavy breathing filled the alley and its small space, what is making that noise? Another sound echoed off the walls, this time it was the distinct sound of something scurrying. Oh please let that be just a rat. The breathing drew closer and right when Namine thought it was directly in front of her, it stopped… only to restart directly behind her. Her body tensed, this maybe wasn't such a good idea.

"Two pretties this time," a creepy high pitched voice said from behind Namine.

Namine went to turn around to confront whoever was behind her, but when she did whoever was behind her clasped a hand over her mouth and jabbed what felt like a needle into her neck. She tried to scream, to call out, but it was all muffled. Her body grew weak and her mind was now nothing but a thick haze, what had the person done to her?

The creepy voice laughed as Namine fell helplessly to the ground, her mind went blank and the last thing she heard was someone calling her name from a distance.

Namine awoke with her head throbbing and confused, what had happened to her? Her confusion grew even more at what sounded like children crying and whimpering. When her eyes came into focus, Namine found herself, along with five or six children, in what appeared to be a large room that was in rough shape. The paint was peeling off the walls, what looked to be rust clung to the exposed structure beams, the flooring was cracked and broken, and rusted bars still held strong on the windows. What kind of place is this? There were old turned over chairs and a table in the room and by the way they looked, Namine's best guess is that they've been here like that for a long time. Over in the corner farthest from the door huddled the children, some of them had their clothing torn and others were just dirtied, but all of them were no older than nine years old and all of them had tear stained faces.

 _What's going on?_

"Miss… are you okay?" a little boy asked, he looked like he was trying to be brave as he attempted to shield the rest of the children with his small body.

Namine groaned slightly as she lifted herself up off the cold floor, "I think so."

Groggily she looked around the room a bit more, "Do any of you know where we are?"

The children all shook their head no, more tears fell and others trembled with fear. How could someone do this to innocent children? The poor things were terrified and Namine's conscience immediately wanted to go and comfort them. Achingly Namine stood and went over to the frightened kids and knelt down in front of them, gingerly she tilted each of their heads this way and that to examine them better; she needed to know how badly they were hurt, if at all. She let out a sigh of relief; it was nothing serious, just scrapes and bruises.

"Do any of you know what's going on?" she doubted any of them knew, but it was worth a shot.

"A monster," a little brunette haired girl said before she sniffled. She looked no older than six or so.

"A monster? Do you mean a bad man?"

All of them shook their heads no.

"No, it's a scary monster," she repeated.

A scary monster?

"What kind of scary monster?" Namine tried her best to understand the logic of a child; to them a monster could literally be anything.

"It has the body of a spider, but where the head should be is a body of a man," the little boy from earlier explained.

A spider with a man's body… that's not possible, so could it be that what they saw was some kind of hallucination from being drugged? Actually were they even drugged, Namine knew she must have been because she doesn't remember how she got here in the first place, all she could remember is walking into the alley looking for a little girl and then… nothing. Speaking of the little girl Namine had gone looking for, she was here amongst the group of children, the little girl dressed as a cat sat just behind the little boy protecting them, and she was crying just like the rest. Namine's gut tightened at the sight of the little girl, so she wasn't a figment of her imagination from before like she had begun to assume; Namine was almost sure that what she had saw was just a decoy to lure her into the alley, but the little girl really was here.

Something outside of the room down the hall made a loud smacking noise, the children all moved in closer to one another and began to cry even more, some whimpered and others called for their Moms and Dads.

 _I have to protect these kids… but how?_

Namine was no fighter, sure she knew a few moves for self-defense from back when she was bullied and picked on, but it was nothing she could successfully use to defeat someone if they were to pose as a serious threat. Even though she's not sure if she could, Namine thought it wise to reassure the children that she'd protect them.

"Don't worry; I won't let anyone harm you."

Tear filled eyes looked back up at her.

"Do you promise?" one asked.

Namine smiled reassuringly at them, "I promise."

That scurrying noise from the alley returned, this time it came from outside of room.

 _I don't like the feeling I get when I hear that sound._

The scurrying continued, back and forth it went on the other side of the door and occasionally something dragged along the wall, it was a horrible sound, it was like nails dragging down a chalkboard. The children covered their ears and cringed, Namine did the same; that horrible sound, it just went on and on! Whoever… Namine peeked at the kids, or whatever that is out there seems to be toying with them, like it got a kick out of frightening them. The feeling in Namine's gut intensified, she didn't like the feeling of this.

 _Come on Namine; find something you can protect yourself with!_

Quickly Namine surveyed the room and at first found nothing she could possibly use as a weapon against their captor, but then something over by the turned over desk glinted in the light of a passing light. She didn't hesitate and strode over to the desk to investigate what the glint was, Namine was hoping for a blade of some kind, but was disappointed when she didn't find one. But at a closer look at the desk, she found that a thicker metal siding piece had been pried away from the desk slightly, Namine's hopes returned at possibly finding something to use for defense. If she could pry that piece of metal off the desk, she'd be able to wield it like a weapon; the edges of the metal were sharp enough for it to cut something if the occasion called for it.

Namine found a piece of torn fabric on the floor that she could use to wrap around the metal, she could use it like a makeshift hilt so that she wouldn't cut her hand when she tried to pull the piece off of the desk. With the fabric wrapped securely around the metal Namine pulled, it didn't even budge.

"Come on!" Namine growled at the stubborn piece of metal.

Again she pulled and again nothing, still Namine tried to pry the metal off the desk… it gave way a bit. Feeling determined and desperate Namine propped her foot up on the desk and pulled with all of her might. The scurrying and scratching noises became centered to just outside of the door, it was only a single ordinary household door that separated them from whatever it was outside. An eerie and almost hysterical laugh sounded from outside.

 _Come on!_

Namine pulled one last time with everything she had; the sound of metal straining against the force filled the room, just a bit more!

The metal was ripped from the desk and the lack of resistance sent Namine falling back onto the floor, with the sharp metal piece in hand. Success!

"Ha ha!" she laughed in triumph.

With her mini victory behind her, Namine got back up and placed herself back protectively in front of the children.

The door shook violently; it creaked and cracked as something pushed against it, the door groaned in protest against the pressure before it shattered into pieces. The already terrified kids cried out in fright and some clutched at Namine's legs, and one little girl screamed for her Daddy. With the door, the only thing separating them from what was out in the hall, now shattered and broken the doorway was filled with a foreboding blackness, Namine sensed something wicked out there in the hall; it was like nothing she's ever felt before. There was a scraping sound before six weird looking claws curled themselves around the door frame, three on each side; they reminded Namine of javelin tips. More of the claws came into view; the claws were each attached to a furry black and white leg… very long legs. The laughter continued before a silhouette emerged from the darkness, and stepped into what little light they had.

Namine was completely stunned, "Holy shit it really is a spider with a man's body."

The monster's torso was that of a man, his chest was bare and displayed scars aplenty, he looked like any normal human being, except for his pointy ears, upper fangs that were so long they protruded from his mouth and ran down to his chin, much like a saber tooth tiger. His eyes were red rimmed with yellow and his hair was white tinted with blue and it fell well past his waist where he was fused with the spider half. Ya that's definitely not a human. The remaining part of the monster was that of a giant black and white spider, complete with long white legs that had black round joints, and a round dark gray abdomen. Just looking at the monster made Namine wish there was an equally giant sized boot to squash it with.

"Cazael did good yes? Yes Cazael did good, lots to eat now there is," the spider monster spoke, it's voice high pitched and unattractive.

 _Eat?_

It licked its lips and salivated.

 _That thing wants to eat us!_

Namine was way in over her head, what little defense moves she knew were workable on a human being, not half of a human half spider! Against her will Namine began to tremble. What is this thing? Where did it come from? Why is it going to eat her and the children?

"Ooh, Cazael which one does we eat first, hmm? Which one, which one?"

The children cried out in fear when it took a step closer to them, and Namine's resolve settled; no matter what happens to her she won't let that monster have these kids, she made a promise to protect them and Namine was never one to back out of a promise. Clearly she was outmatched with the monster, but Namine had to do whatever she could to keep the children safe, they needed her to.

"You're not going to touch any of them you monster!" Namine declared while she tightened her hold on the metal she pried from the desk.

It laughed at her.

"Such a silly human, Cazael is going to eat you last; yes last we'll eat you."

With inhuman speed Cazael skittered up to where they all huddled and effortlessly knocked Namine aside, she went sliding across the dirty floor. When she came to settle Namine had to try getting her breathing back under control, she had the wind knocked out of her, but she didn't have time to recuperate; one of the girls screamed. As quickly as she could Namine got to her feet and found that Cazael had snatched the little girl from the alley up by her arm, the girl continued to whine and cry as she hung there helplessly in the air in front of the monster. The other children were too terrified to move. Namine ran back across the room, retrieving the metal that had fallen out of her grasp when she was thrown, and proceeded to swing her makeshift weapon at Cazael, as he called himself.

"Let her GO!" Namine brought down the piece of metal as hard as she could on Cazael's arm.

The metal held true and sliced into his arm, Cazael howled in pain as he released the little girl, purple blood seeped from the wound Namine had managed to inflict on the creature, and with a vicious look never before directed at her Cazael stomped his way over to Namine. In a flash he reached out his hand and gripped Namine's throat tightly, he didn't look happy, and his tight grip constricted Namine's air supply; she couldn't breathe and gasped for air.

"Nasty human hurt Cazael, Nasty!" he snarled as he repeatedly pounded Namine into the nearby wall.

Her body ached all over and still she couldn't breathe, with a smug look of satisfaction Cazael leaned in close and ran his long tongue up the length of Namine's arm; he licked away the blood that was there, she must have cut up her arms from when he had sent her across the room.

"Mm, nasty human tastes good, maybe Cazael eat you now?" he cocked his head to the side and pondered it for a second then nodded his head, "Yes, yes Cazael eat the nasty tasty human."

Once again he licked at Namine's arms and wickedly smiled.

 **...**

"Namine!" Kazuma frantically called for his missing cousin.

It wasn't like Namine to just leave without telling someone because she knew they'd worry about her, after all they were close.

Still no answer, no matter how many times they called out to her or who called she never answered back; it was like she had vanished into thin air.

"Kazuma we can't find her anywhere, and no one's seen her," Shiziru told her brother, she was out of breath from asking people if they've seen Namine.

"We'll find her, we just have to keep looking," he tried his best to stay positive, but even that was starting to fail him.

Kurama spent his time examining the area nearby in hopes of finding something, some kind of trace of her, but with the tight knot in his stomach and the unwavering feeling that something is wrong with Namine made it that much harder for him to concentrate. All he felt like doing was shifting back into his old self and recklessly tearing the place apart for his missing mate; he didn't just get her back potentially only just to lose her again so soon. If anything were to happen to her again… Kurama wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle it anymore.

Yusuke halted walking as he got an idea.

"Hey wolf girl!" he called out to Jin's female.

She did not look too impressed, "It's Aiko, not wolf girl."

Jin placed a comforting hand on her head and it immediately seemed to sooth the woman.

"Okay then Aiko, earlier you said you could smell Namine right?" Yusuke asked.

The others of Yusuke's group converged as he brought up a good point.

"No, I only said she smelt like a human."

"Ya that, if you could do that, can you like… I don't know, follow her scent?"

Aiko's eyes narrowed, "I'm not a blood hound!"

"No, but you are a wolf darl'n," Jin countered; he knew she was the best hope they had at the moment to finding a lead on the missing girl.

It looked as if Aiko was fighting with herself mentally for a minute, she looked over to Kurama and found his eyes to be very… persuading, and then gave a defeated sigh; she didn't look too happy at the thought of being used like a hound dog, though she also didn't like the hidden threat in Kurama's eyes if she refused to help search.

"Wait here," Aiko removed her necklace and handed it to Jin before heading over to a deserted area covered with bushes.

Along the way she undid her belt, kicked off her boots, and began unbuttoning her shirt.

"What the heck is she doing?" Kazuma asked.

"She's changing, can't really turn into a wolf with clothes on now can ya?" Jin playfully smiled.

One second Aiko was bending down low in behind the bushes and the next, out came a black and white wolf. Aiko looked to Jin and then back to where she had dropped her clothes, Jin took the hint and went to fetch her fallen clothes, and she licked his hand as he went to pick up her boots.

"Oh hey it's no rush, you know because we're only looking for a missing person," Yusuke sarcastically called to the female wolf.

She snorted and pranced over to where Namine had last been seen, sniffed around and tried her best to follow her scent. Constantly Aiko crisscrossed the street going to one spot to sniff and then crossed again over to the other spot to smell another, sure she could smell Namine, but her scent had been trampled and almost covered up by other humans; it was making it very difficult to follow.

Aiko growled when Kazuma had walked into the back of her when she suddenly stopped to sniff a spot on the sidewalk, he apologized and backed up a bit to give her more space. On and on she went sniffing trying her hardest to pinpoint where Namine had went, and it wasn't looking too good, she had almost resigned in defeat and shifted back to her other form, but then she caught it, a stronger scent of Namine. Over in an alleyway a few stores down from where she was last seen, hurriedly Aiko ran through the street; the humans on the street cried out at the wolf and tried to get out of her way as quickly as possible, luckily for her Yusuke and the others apologized and informed them she was just a dog that looked like a wolf. Aiko wanted to laugh, ya like she was some kind of domesticated mutt… but then again she sort of did become domesticated when she had met Jin. With a shake of her head Aiko went back to focusing on following Namine's scent into the alleyway, and there just a few feet in she found it, Namine's mini top hat hairpiece; that's why her scent was so much stronger down here, it must have fallen off of her at some point. The only down side to finding this is that Namine wasn't with her hairpiece, and a much more unsettling fact was that there was now a new scent, one of a demon and it overlapped with Namine's. This wasn't good.

Aiko picked the headpiece up by carefully clamping her teeth around the hat and went back to the others on the street, only she didn't have to go far; Kurama and Kazuma had followed her into the alley.

At the sight of Aiko with Namine's headpiece Kurama's heartbeat grew faster, his breathing became labored as he tried to contain his fury; he could now smell the demonic scent, the very same that was now latched onto the headpiece. It only meant one thing, a demon had taken Namine, and that infuriated him to the point where he was desperately trying to reign in the urge to change; he knew that if he did change he wouldn't stop until Namine was safe, and if she wasn't… then it will be a very dark day indeed. Kurama propped himself up against one of the brick walls and spread his fingers apart, he needed to focus on controlling himself; the last time he had lost control was when he discovered Hana lifeless, and it wasn't a pretty site once he had finally calmed down back to a relative level of reason.

Yusuke had entered the alley and noticed Kurama leaning against the wall, "Hey Kurama, are you okay?"

Slowly he edged closer to his friend and found him struggling to level his breathing, "Hey Kurama, what's wrong?"

Kurama turned his head slightly and eyed his friend from the corner of his eye, "Yusuke I'm very close to breaking."

His warning confused Yusuke, "Breaking? What do you mean?"

"I've lost Hana and then find her to be reincarnated; now only to discover she's been taken away from me by a lowly demon, and I don't know if she's harmed or not," Kurama growled low, "I'm losing control."

Kurama dragged his hand down the brick wall and left behind claw marks in the brick, Yusuke noticed the markings and how Kurama's eyes shifted from their normal green to cold golden eyes, and then he understood.

"Hang in there Kurama, we'll get her back. Hey Aiko can you follow her scent from here?" Yusuke asked.

He hoped the wolf can because he doesn't know if he'll be able to handle Kurama if he were to change and lose control.

Aiko nodded her head, threw the headpiece at Yusuke, turned and ran as fast as she could down the alley and under the chain linked fence; she had a sneaky suspicion that the scent would lead them to a part of town that was mostly abandoned like a warehouse district. Aiko deducted that since the demon had ambushed Namine when she had entered the alley that the demon prefers dark and deserted areas, and a warehousing district fits the bill perfectly; now she only hoped that she was right with where the scent will lead them, it'd be harder to deal with the demon in a heavily populated area.

Nonstop they ran and ran, when the buildings became more and more run down looking Yusuke had advised the accompanying girls to head back to Kuwabara's house so they'd be safe, and they turned around and left; only Shiziru lingered behind a second longer. The buildings now appeared to be abandoned or condemned; Aiko had been right with her hunch, now all she had to do was follow the scent to the right building. When they reached around the center of the warehousing district Aiko ran into a bit of trouble… the demon's scent split into multiple trails. Shit. She had no other choice but to stop and sniff around a bit more to try and pick up its most recent trail.

"Why have we stopped?" Kazuma asked between loud puffs of air.

"Tell me you didn't lose the trail," Yusuke didn't look to happy at the thought of losing it.

At that moment Kurama's ears suddenly twitched, what was that he had just heard? Taking a deep breath he strained his hearing as best as he could, he was sure he had heard something just now. There! There it was again, it sounded like a small child crying out. Kurama was able to pinpoint where the sound had originated and immediately went running in that direction, he believed it was his best bet to finding Namine. Sure enough the farther he ran the louder the crying and shouts became, and at one point he was positive he heard Namine's voice yelling something. Hearing her yell only made him push himself to run faster; he wasn't going to arrive too late, not this time.

"I'm coming Namine."

The warehouse that the cries were coming from was near the far back of the district, and it looked like it should be condemned and torn down; the structure itself didn't appear to be very stable, windows were smashed, the roof was collapsing in on itself in some spots, and the very walls seemed to be buckling. Of course a demon would bring its intending prey here, why wouldn't they? No one was around for miles and it was very unlikely for someone to venture in here. Unfortunately the main door had been rusted closed over the years of neglect, Yusuke and Kazuma started looking for another door to use, but Kurama didn't have time to waste and smashed out one of the bigger windows and hopped inside of the building. His friends stood there in momentary befuddlement at what Kurama had just done, it was so out of character for him to do something so brazen like that; he must be really frantic to get to Namine for him to be like that.

Once inside Kurama hurriedly searched the bottom level for Namine, but during his search his ears picked up the sound of something repeatedly hitting the wall upstairs and the unmistakable cries of small children. Kurama growled as he picked up the smell of blood, his Namine better not have been harmed because if she was, there will be hell to pay.

It didn't take Kurama long to find the stairs and he took them two at a time, the others followed up after him. The closer he came to the end of the hallway the louder the cries and sounds of a struggle became, his heart rate increased and he could feel his control slipping away. Finally he arrived at the broken doorway at the end of the hall and what he saw nearly stopped his heart, a spider demon held Namine by the neck, but before he or anyone could do anything the demon sank it's teeth into Namine's bare shoulder. Namine cried out in pain as her blood splattered the floor and walls, the demon's long fangs pierced through her shoulder.

"Namine!" Kurama shouted, his control over shifting to Yoko Kurama broke.

The change was near instantaneous, one second he was Kurama and the next he was lunging through the space between him and Namine as Yoko Kurama.

"Bastard!" Yoko growled as he gripped the demon's head and pulled it back so its fangs were pulled out of Namine's shoulder.

Namine fell to the floor in a heap, she gasped for air, and the pain in her shoulder was relentless; she's never felt so much pain before, it brought her to tears it hurt so much. Someone had knelt down beside her and was gently urging her to roll over, so she did and found it to be Kazuma, oh how she was elated to see him again. The building shook as something kept being knocked around inside the room, the children ducked and ran for Namine as that something smacked into the wall near them. Timidly Namine turned her head and took a peek at what was going on, the spider demon was getting his ass handed to him by a rather tall man dressed in white, and he had long silver hair, fox ears and a matching tail. Namine watched the man roundhouse kick the spider monster away and into the far wall, watching the man with the tail and ears felt… familiar to Namine and she wasn't sure why and that bothered her a bit.

The spider demon coward by the wall where he landed from being kicked, and whimpered as he watched Yusuke round up the children, took them and passed them off to the wild red haired man from before. Cazael brought his attention back to the tailed man once he growled threateningly at him.

"Cazael sorry! Me only wanted to eats, Cazael didn't know pretty tasty girlie belonged to you," it shrank back into the corner it was thrown in, the once threatening monster now looked pathetic as it whimpered at the sight of the silver haired man before him.

"You abducted children and Namine of your own free will, is that correct?" Yusuke asked as he walked over to the cowering demon.

"Cazael said he was sorry!"

"Answer my question!" Yusuke snapped.

Namine turned back to her cousin, "Kazuma… what's going on? Demons… they're not really real are they?"

Sadly Kazuma looked away from Namine's pleading eyes; he never wanted her to find out not if he could have helped it.

"Well?" Yusuke pressed, effectively drawing everyone's attention.

"Cazael was hungry, and the tasty little ones were so easy to lure away… but me didn't eats any! Cazael swears!"

The silver haired man turned and took a glimpse at Namine over on the floor next to Kazuma, his eyes narrowed and he turned back to Cazael.

"You may not have harmed a child, but you harmed a human; you tried to eat Namine."

The spider demon cowered farther away from the man; he was truly terrified of him, he became even more scared when the man took a step forward.

"Kurama, what are you going to do?" Yusuke asked the man.

 _Kurama?_

Namine stared after the tall unfamiliar yet familiar man, that's Kurama? There's no way that could be him.

"Yoko!" Yusuke tried again.

The man stopped and glanced over to his Mazoku friend, "What?"

"What are you doing?"

The man known as Yoko turned back to the sniveling spider demon, "He violated the new Demon World code by harming Namine, and I'm going to show him what happens when someone breaks it."

Yusuke stepped forward, "Just because Namine is your reincarnated mate doesn't mean it's your job to punish him, it's mine, I'll deal with him.

What? What did they mean Namine was that man's reincarnated mate.

"What?" Namine asked in a disbelieving tone.

Everyone turned to look at her, and in all of their eyes she could see that they all knew what Yusuke was talking about, everyone knew but her. The man with the golden yellow eyes looked sadly over to her; it was like he was trying to show her just how guilty he felt for keeping something like that from her.

While everyone was busy looking at Namine with guilt, Cazael the spider demon slowly edged to the side and grabbed at the wall for support. With one last crazed look at Yusuke and Yoko Kurama, Cazael locked his beady eyes on Namine and used the wall to help launch himself at her, his fangs bared.

"You're mine!" Cazael screeched as he reached for Namine.

Namine couldn't do anything but stare at Cazael as he came for her; it was like she was a deer caught in the headlights and couldn't move.

"Namine!" Yoko called as he reached for the lunging demon.

Yoko had managed to grab a hind leg of Cazael's and wrench him back away from Namine, but Cazael was able to turn around and latch onto Yoko. The weight of Cazael sent Yoko off balance and they stumbled, Yoko was able to bring his hands up just enough to shove the demon off of him and over to the wall with the barred window; only Yoko wasn't expecting the demon to wrap its legs around him and bring Yoko with it. With the amount of force they both had impacted the wall with, it buckled and gave way sending both demons out and down onto the asphalt below.

"Kurama!" Yusuke worriedly called after his friend.

Kazuma gasped and went to go and help but decided against it, he needed to help Namine, her shoulder was still bleeding but the more it bled the more it seemed to change color.

"Kazuma… I don't… feel… right…" Namine's eyes began to go in and out of focus and her head throbbed, but oddly enough her wounded shoulder was completely numb.

"Hey Kurama watch out!" Yusuke hollered over by the hole in the wall and raised his hand; his fingers looked like he was forming a gun.

A red light of some sort emanated from the tip of his finger and shot out like a bullet down to the street below, a scream echoed through the area and then it was no more.

"You okay Kurama?" Yusuke called down to his friend.

"I'll be fine," they heard him call back.

Namine didn't feel like she was doing too well, it was hard for her to keep her eyes open and her body didn't seem to want to move anymore.

"Ka..zuma…"

Namine went limp in her cousin's arms as she went unconscious.

"Guys help! Something's wrong with Namine!"

That was all it took to get Yoko Kurama to leap back into the building and rush over to Namine and Kazuma, gently he examined her and found her to be cold to the touch, and her shoulder wound didn't look too good either.

"That bastard poisoned her, let's get her back to your house Kuwabara, quickly," Yoko Kurama advised.

Carefully he took Namine into his arms and stood up, he was determined to help his mate.

"I'll meet you all back at Kuwabara's house," and with that Yoko leapt from the hole in the wall and continued to leap from building to building.

"Why can't I do that?" Kazuma asked.

"Because you'd fall and hurt yourself," Yusuke joked before he leapt out of the hole and landed gracefully down on the street.

Yusuke went to track down Jin so he could see how the kids were doing, and Kuwabara proceeded to make his way out of the warehouse by the means of stairs and doorways.

 **...**

Namine woke with her head pounding and her shoulder ached like she had slept in a funny position, only ten times worse. When her wits returned and she looked around the room she was in, Namine noticed she was in her cousin's room; she knew because she recognized all of Kazuma's Megalica posters and memorabilia. Why was she here resting in his bed? Weren't they just out heading to the haunted house? No wait; there was something else scratching for her attention at the back of her mind, but what was it? Then she remembered it, the monster, the scared children, and Yusuke saying she was someone's reincarnated mate. That couldn't be true, could it? The more Namine pondered over it the more some things became more understandable, like how surprised Kurama had been when they first met in the restaurant and how he said she looked like someone he knew. Then there was the panicked look in his eyes when she left for the night, or even the feeling of him being familiar to her even though they had just met. She didn't know how she was supposed to take this kind of news, it's not every day she finds out she's someone's reincarnated mate. Does this mean she's going to be tied down to someone she wasn't sure if she could or would love? Namine had always dreamed of marrying a man that made her heart race and treated her like a queen while she'd return the gesture and treat him like her king, she's pictured her love life like that since she was a child; her Mother had always told her to love someone who she gave her heart to and received their heart in return.

The bedroom door opened and in came Kurama, he held a tray of tea and snacks, gently he closed the door and made his way over to where Namine sat up in Kazuma's bed. Kurama's eyes were filled with guilt and unease, the look in his eyes made Namine's gut tighten.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake, are you hungry? Or thirsty?" he kindly asked before placing the tray on the study table.

Namine shook her head, "No I don't want anything, thank you."

An awkward silence filled the room, both waited for the other to say something and yet neither of them did. Namine fidgeted in the bed, she wasn't sure what she should say.

Finally Kurama sighed, "I take it you remember hearing what Yusuke had said back in the warehouse?"

She nodded.

Kurama looked Namine in the eyes and held her gaze, "I just want you to know that I do see you as Namine and not just Hana, I'm not going to pressure you into accepting it either, but if you ever do want to talk about it…" Kurama paused and took a deep breath, "I'll be here waiting. I've waited for you to come into my life for a long time; I think I can wait a bit more."

Namine stared at Kurama, she didn't know what to think, sure it's great that he said he sees her for her and for someone she used to be… but how are they supposed to go on after this? Perhaps the best thing for Namine to do, is to separate herself from this place for a bit just to think things through. God, Namine wanted to run and find her Mother so she could talk this over with her, she needed her Mother's advice more now than she ever did, but she'd never be able to get it again. Not in this lifetime.

"I think… I need some time to myself to think things over."

Kurama nodded his head, "That sounds reasonable, I'll leave you be and if you need anything I'll be downstairs with the others."

"No, I think I should return to my hotel room, I need to be alone," Namine slowly inched her way out and off the bed.

Kurama's heart sped up, "Of course."

He didn't want to let her out of his sight, but he knew she would need her space and decided that the right thing would be to give it to her. Though what he really wanted to do was to embrace her lovingly and never let her go, but if he were to do that he might spook her and chase her away for good, at least this way he was giving her the space she needed so she could sort things through. Kindly he helped Namine get downstairs and called her a taxi that would take her back to the hotel, he didn't trust the idea of letting her walk back, not after the night they've had.

Both of Namine's cousins came out with Kurama and helped her into the taxi when it arrived and waved her goodbye as she left, Kurama on the other hand stared after the departing taxi with longing. The taxi disappeared from view and Kurama felt disheartened, he always imagined meeting his reincarnated mate and in every scenario she remembered him and didn't hesitate to embrace him and whisper sweet things into his ears, but with how it turned out in reality… he wasn't sure if he really is getting his mate back, or if he just frightened her away for good.

 **...**

It's been a few days since Halloween night and Namine has been constantly going back and forth with herself over what she should do in regards to her and Kurama. Over the days she had asked her cousins about Kurama and had even arranged to go for coffee with him; the best thing she figured she could do to help make her decision was to at least try and get to know him. And the honest truth of it all was that Namine did click better with him than she ever had with anyone, aside from her Mother of course, and he did seem to understand her better than anyone ever has before. It made her feel almost special, though she guessed to Kurama she was special. The thing she did like the most though about their get together and chats, was that never once did Kurama call her by Hana or the like, it was always by Namine. He really was seeing her for Namine and not as Hana, and she appreciated it because if he had called her by Hana all the time it would have made him a hypocrite for what he told her back in Kazuma's bedroom; about how he only saw her as Namine and not as Hana.

Now here everyone stood in the crowded airport waiting for Namine's flight to be called, Yusuke and Kazuma were off to the side watching people depart their planes and laughed at some of the tourists and their clothing. Keiko and Shiziru had just rolled their eyes at them and called the men idiots for being so childish, and Yukina, she was too busy marveling at all of the souvenirs and 'large metal birds' they had here. Then there was Kurama, he hasn't left Namine's side since they met up at the airport entrance, he was nervous about letting Namine returning home; what if he was to never see or hear from her again? He didn't think he'd be able to go through that again.

Hesitantly he slid his hand around hers and gently held it; he committed the feel of her skin to his memory, as he had done with her voice and even her smile. He never knew when he'd see them again, and it terrified him.

A female voice came over the sound system and called for the passengers for the flight to New York City. It was Namine's flight.

"Namine…" his voice had never sounded so unsure before in his life.

Namine turned and looked at the man before her, the one that held her hand like it was the most precious thing in the world.

"Yes?"

This was it.

"You never did tell me your decision… the one about us."

"Kurama… I…" Namine began but was interrupted by Kazuma running up to her calling Namine's name.

"Hey Namine they're calling your flight, you better get going before you miss it!" Kazuma pulled Namine into a hug, "Take care Nami."

She hugged him back and was immediately pulled back into a hug with Shiziru, "Don't let anyone boss you around cuz, and be sure to call once in a while or you can come visit us."

"I will," Namine kindly agreed.

"Final call for flight six-one-six departing for New York City, final call for flight six-one-six," the female voice announced.

Namine turned and looked at the screen, damn it really is final call already! But she still wanted to talk with Kurama; this wasn't something that could be answered with a one worded reply.

"Namine…" Kurama seemed almost desperate to hear her answer.

Namine looked back behind her and found the line up for her plane was almost finished, shit she needed to hurry.

Quickly Namine pulled out a notebook she had in her bag and ripped out a piece of paper and jotted something down as quickly as she could, once she was done Namine folded the piece of paper and handed it to Kurama, leaned forward onto her tippy-toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she had to turn and run for her gate. Namine took a second to turn back around to wave to everyone and then continued to run for her gate.

Kurama was stunned at Namine's sudden actions and blinked after her retreating figure, the note she had scribbled he clutched protectively in his hand, his emotions started to grow; he didn't want to let her go.

When Namine was out of sight and on her way into the plane Kurama looked down to her note and unfolded it.

 _Kurama,_

 _There's a lot we still have to talk about, and the distance might be an issue, but it's worth a try anyway. Here's my number and my email so we can still keep in touch, even with the time zone difference and all._

 _I look forward to continue getting to know you and our shared past._

 _~Namine~_

Kurama smiled and grew calm after reading the note, his Namine wasn't leaving him, not for good. He'd think of this as a sort of long distance relationship, and he was looking forward to hearing from her soon.


End file.
